Kilmar Abrego Garcia Now Under Active Investigation by U.S. Department of Justice, Claims Tennessee State Agency

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declined on Tuesday to comment on its active investigation into Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador deported last month, after two attorneys with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) informed The Tennessee Star of the federal investigation.

The revelation that Abrego Garcia is subject to an active investigation made to The Star after it inquired about the status of the Open Records Request filed on April 17 by Michael Patrick Leahy with TDOSHS, which the agency effectively denied due to its failure to respond within seven business days, as required by the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA).

In a letter sent to The Star on Tuesday, Senior Associate Counsel Casey Goggin and Associate Counsel Mary Petersen claimed the request was not denied, but that TDOSHS will need more than two additional weeks to complete it, as any potential release of documents must consider “an ongoing investigation by the United States Department of Justice.”

Because DOJ officials are currently investigating Abrego Garcia, the TDOSHS lawyers told The Star, “either the records you have requested to inspect will be available or a determination of accessibility and availability will be made” by May 9.

The Star contacted both the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and the DOJ Office of Public Affairs to confirm that Abrego Garcia is currently the subject of a federal investigation, but did not receive an immediate response.

A senior DOJ official told The Star the agency had no comment on the matter.

TDOSHS likewise did not provide additional information about the investigation, including when the attorneys became aware of its existence, prior to press time.

News that Abrego Garcia is actively being investigated comes after The Star was first to report the Salvadoran was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in December 2022, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has since confirmed Abrego Garcia was transporting eight passengers in a vehicle owned by a convicted human smuggler.

DHS additionally confirmed Abrego Garcia presented an expired form of a Maryland driver’s license that is only provided to illegal immigrants, but the THP told The Star that officers were nonetheless instructed by the “Biden-era FBI” to release Abrego Garcia and his passengers.

Abrego Garcia reportedly admitted to entering the United States illegally in March 2012 and has been determined likely to be a member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), though he has denied this claim. He was issued a final deportation order in 2019, which included a “withholding of removal” from one of two nations, either Guatemala or El Salvador, and claims his deportation to El Salvador violated this order.

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “DOJ Logo” by DOJ.